An Indigenous-led initiative to improve cancer screening among First Nations women has seen a record increase in testing numbers.

The Beautiful Shawl Project, now in its seventh year, is a partnership between the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), dozens of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) across the state, and BreastScreen Victoria.

The project provides culturally appropriate and familiar customised shawls to be worn during screening; designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and depicting Country and culture.

It has seen a 39.5 per cent increase in the number of screenings in 2023/24 compared to the previous year. Overall, 1,342 breast screens have been conducted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women since the project began in 2018.

Cancer survivor and VACCHO chief executive Jill Gallagher has long-advocated for Indigenous-led responses to the over-representation of cancer in First Nations people.

"Each year we see more and more Aboriginal women screened as part of the Beautiful Shawl Project and I am proud that we're able to provide this life-saving service to Community," Ms Gallagher said.

The Gunditjmara woman told National Indigenous Times last year: "Our people are dying with cancer, but non-Aboriginal communities are living longer with cancer. That simply says we are not accessing information, and we are not accessing screening."

The Beautiful Shawl Project works with ACCOs and Aboriginal-led services to offering culturally-safe breast screening on Country. In turn, this offers a safe and responsive alternative to traditional breast screening.

On the initiative, BreastScreen Victoria chief executive Rita Butera said: "We are incredibly proud of this important initiative – its growth over the years highlights that collaboration and community-led efforts are essential for achieving equitable access to our life-saving service."

The project won an Excellence in Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Award at the 2024 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards for its progress in increasing access to breast screens across the state, with the Victorian government saying it comes as part of their Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-2028 to drive down the gap in cancer survival rates.

"When we enable Aboriginal-led teams to offer breast screening in familiar settings, we have better success at potentially saving more lives and driving down cancer rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women," acting Health Minister, Ingrid Stitt, said.

The government says the Beautiful Shawl Project is part of the more than $70 million in funding for initiatives to improve the health and wellbeing of First Nations Victorians in the last state budget.

Part of this includes supporting the development and implementation of VACCHO's Aboriginal Cancer Journey Strategy 2023-2028, which calls for an expanded Victorian-wide Culture and Kinship program, as well as a culturally safe framework to help increase participation rates in cancer clinical trials.